Pack Journalism Issues - Essay Example

Pack Journalism A journalist is someone who gets shot at in a war zone so he can report back material that can't be broadcast because it might be toodisturbing. This is one of the funny descriptions given by Harry Shearer for what a journalist is. Thought it is funny but there is truth in here that needs world attention. Today, it does not need a war zone to get a journalist shot because many journalists are killed and murdered just about anywhere, even at the comfort of their house. It is very startling that incidence of these killings is proliferating all over the world. And this, makes the journalist work never be the same again. Sometimes, the government that should have been protecting its citizen, including journalists, is the one allegedly involved in the killings of people in the media. Moreover, it is surprising to know that this is happening all around the world. Each country has its own stories of murdered journalist. What we can read in the news are American tank fired at the Reuters office, journalist abducted allegedly by Philippine Army, brutal murder of a journalist in Indonesia condemned, an American aircraft fired a missile at the al-Jazeera office, to mention a few. This situation is getting serious and must be stopped. Journalists are here to provide independent reporting and to deliver documentation of realities in life to the society. As years go by, the journalist work is getting riskier and scarier. From a mere observer who just re-tell stories from those involve, first hand sources, they are now largely moving into the limelight, but not for any better. Instead, the future of journalist anywhere in the world is getting dimmer and dimmer as what we can see unfolding through this rising incidence of media killings. The phrase "being read" is slowly changing its real meaning. Journalists are being read because of the news about other people or current events they wrote, which they have no involvement totally. This time they are still being read and that is only because they themselves are what the news story is all about. They are being harassed, threatened, and arrested. Just like the recent report from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Two French TV journalists were arrested in Northern Cyprus, which believed the incident overshadowed plans of the Turkish authorities to reform press freedom laws. Journalists once again are becoming the victim of outworn laws and their practitioners. Moreover, this time it is more frequent, worldwide, and fatal. Locale and international organizations, like the IFJ, European Federation of Journalist (EFJ), The Union of Cyprus Journalists, continuously condemn such cases of violation of the journalists' rights and of the press freedom. The rights and freedom being blatantly violated today includes, In pursuance of this duty, the journalist shall at all times defend the principles of freedom in the honest collection and publication of news, and of the right to fair comment and criticism. Journalists worthy of the name shall deem it their duty to observe faithfully the principles stated above. Within the general law of each country the journalist shall recognise in matters of professional matters the jurisdiction of colleagues only, to the exclusion of any kind of interference by governments or others. There is no more freedom in the collection of publication of news. In many countries, they are being threatened in the reports being collected and in the news being printed. One female radio broadcast journalist after giving her comments and criticism on a particular government official, she was gunned down right outside the station. Previous to this incident, another radio broadcast journalist was shot and killed in his house. These two journalists happen to be husband and wife. Moreover, in the country they were is a democratic country with laws assuring freedom of speech and of the press. They need not to be in the midst of war to be hit by a bullet. There is enough bullet really intended for them and not just stray bullet. Despite these brutality on journalists, nothing can stop them from peforming their sworn duties. News has to be dished out, important information must be disseminated, graft and corruption must be criticized, and so on. The right of the people to be informed ought to be done by any means. Newspaper and broadcast companies are being sequestered unoficially by placing them under government control in a way that they are being harrased and threatened. However, these cannot stop journalists of their duties. The advent of internet gives solution to the bridled voices of press freedom. Many journalist are using the internet to continue their freedom. There is not much restrictions as those in broadcast airwaves and in print. In addition, objectives are can be done through the internet because of its easiness in use and speediness in information distribution. Aside from the easiness and speediness of the internet as a tool in dishing out news, these cases of harassment and killings may be the cause for many professional journalists to move into blogging. Blogging has been shifting to a higher level from just simply a means of gathering web links and voicing out ideas of people online. It is now more than an online diary or log of people's personal activities. Its popularity is proliferating all over the world in sharing a wide variety of information and specially in political issues. Blogging, however, does not replace the publishing of articles. Though it supports instead the paper and ink. Though many people still raised their eyebrows regarding this internet fad. It is also believed that this blogging thing has a very low reliability. However, the fact remain that the Internet has huge role in journalism. Moreover, it seems that this fast-evolving technology is changing the life of a serious journalist. Journalists are certain that accuracy and impartiality in the current events they are covering are very vital. However, with the arrival of another kind of journalist, or claimed-to-be journalist, makes people think twice more often. This, another, breed of journalist is what we popularly called bloggers. Having two of these types - traditional and bloggers - creates scepticism in the reported news. In the traditional or paper journalist, there is a much more assurance of checks and balances, which we can expect that it will produce news that is more credible. Nevertheless, in the Internet age, nobody can guarantee of the accuracy of news and information being published in blogs that are sprawling in the Internet. Almost anyone can create their own group or personal blog and claim that they are professional news agency. People, by and large, prefer truthful and unbiased news and information, which will enable them to shape up their own opinions about current events or to participate on the news as responsible citizens. Neutrality and truthfulness continuous to be what the readers is most concern of. And reliable reporters know it. Nobody can be certain for a fact how many bloggers today abide the basic rules and ethics of journalism. Many of them may not always be in the standard. They usually have no verifiable qualified editor that checks their reasoning and sourcing. There is no any mean to degrade the ability of journalist-bloggers in the real journalistic world. They may promise themselves to follow the journalist code of standards and they have some professional guiding them along and edits or screens their works. Many of them produce a great variety of news, viewpoints, information, and resources. In fact, what bloggers are doing now is not new at all. There were group of people in the 15th century who were called lonely pamphleteers of the American Revolution who used movable printing type. Now, people are using the Internet for the same activity. There are even popular bloggers who do investigative journalism. Though the question remain if they can be more precise and on the fence than the traditional one. They can discredit news stories from established newspapers and TV news network and even claim divulging alleged anomalies of political and celebrity figures. Veteran journalists are always trying to define their profession in ways that leave out new comers. They do not accept that bloggers do standard reporting and are not genuine journalists since they are not paid. Unlike the established journalists, bloggers are not affiliated to any established organizations that own and run TV network, radio, print, and even cable news. As an audience, one has to be give both sides the benefit of the doubt. People should at least know the ropes how media works. By having enough knowledge on such will provide ample basis for good judgement. Though, others consider these blogs an additional drudgery for them finding out what is true and what is not, we still need to see things based on our own real life experiences, as well as on the internet experiences. It may be a long process of knowledge acquisition, which loath by many, complex turnover, but it will result into a splendid sense of news and valuable information. # REFERENCES: Shearer, Harry. "What is a Journalist." Eat the Press. The Huffington Post. 16 June 2005 George, Cherian. Contentious Journalism And the Internet: Towards Democratic Discourse in Malaysia And Singapore. University of Washington Press; Rev Ed edition, 2006 Foust, James C. Online Journalism: Principles And Practices Of News For The Web. Holcomb Hathaway Publishing, 2004 Lauterer, Jock. Community Journalism, 3rd Ed.: Relentlessly Local. The University of North Carolina Press; 3rd edition, 2006 McGraw-Hill. Getting Started in Journalism. Glencoe/McGraw-Hill; 1 edition, 1997 Aucoin, James L. The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism. University of Missouri Press, 2005 Thompson, Robert. The Broadcast Journalism Handbook: A Television News Survival Guide. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2003 Glen Stovall, James. Web Journalism: Practice and Promise of a New Medium. Allyn & Bacon; 1st edition, 2003 Read More